Bioethics News and Research

RSS

Seattle Children's opens enrollment for first clinical trial of Tumor Paint BLZ-100 for children with brain tumors

Seattle Children's today announced the opening of patient enrollment for the first clinical research trial of the drug Tumor Paint BLZ-100, which is designed to improve surgical outcomes in children with brain tumors – the most common solid tumor cancer in kids.

5 Jun 2015

Reflection in medical education is a fundamental tool to help prevent burnout

Drawing on its Jesuit Catholic heritage, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has long understood the importance of reflection in medical education as a key element in physician formation.

3 Jun 2015

U.S. states with stronger alcohol policies have lower rates of youth drinking

A new study by Boston University and Boston Medical Center researchers reveals that U.S. states with stronger alcohol policies have lower rates of youth overall drinking and binge drinking. The study's results, published in the journal Pediatrics, further suggest that the link is largely a result of policies intended mostly for adults and their effects on reducing adult binge drinking.

2 Jun 2015

Group Health Research Institute conducts first randomized trial to tackle vaccine hesitancy

Group Health Research Institute conducted the first randomized trial to test an intervention aimed at improving hesitancy about early childhood vaccines by working directly with doctors. Vax Northwest, a Washington state public-private partnership, developed the intervention.

2 Jun 2015

Congress needs to act to incentivize development of genomic data systems

The latest generation of genomic testing offers a chance for significant improvements in patient care, disease prevention, and possibly even the cost-effectiveness of healthcare, but Congress needs to act to incentivize the development of the massive data systems that doctors and regulators will need in order to make these tests safe and effective for patients.

28 May 2015

Sangamo BioSciences to present data on ZFP Therapeutic platform at ASGCT meeting

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced that data from clinical, preclinical and research-stage programs focused on the development of ZFP Therapeutics will be presented at the 18th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy

29 Apr 2015

Ebola - the implications of a worldwide epidemic

Ebola – from a small village in Guinea, the deadly virus took hold of West Africa in 2014, and to date has taken the lives of over 10,000 people. The virus threatens to destabilize world health efforts and has induced global fear, with citizens from far away nations concerned about the “what ifs?” of Ebola landing on their doorsteps...

29 Apr 2015

Scholars from leading U.S. medical schools issue updated recommendations on medical ethics training

The American health care landscape has changed significantly in the three decades since the landmark "DeCamp Report" first argued that ethics training should be required for all medical students, yet the fundamental importance of professionalism and ethical practice has only solidified.

27 Apr 2015

New study explores parent satisfaction with research study on treating severe childhood aggression

A new study of families participating in a clinical trial to treat children with severe physical aggression explored the factors affecting parent satisfaction with the research study.

21 Apr 2015

Study explains why generic insulin remains out of reach for diabetes patients

A generic version of insulin, the lifesaving diabetes drug used by 6 million people in the United States, has never been available in this country because drug companies have made incremental improvements that kept insulin under patent from 1923 to 2014.

23 Mar 2015

BU study explores birth outcomes for women who receive fertility treatment

Birth outcomes for babies whose mothers used assisted reproductive technology (ART) are better in some cases, and worse in others, than for subfertile women who did not use ART, according to a first-of-its-kind study led by Boston University School of Public Health researchers.

12 Mar 2015

Whole genome sequencing may help identify disease risks

Using a small amount of blood or saliva, a technology called whole genome sequencing makes that possible - and more than half of parents said they'd not only be interested in the technology for themselves but for their children too, a new nationally-representative University of Michigan study shows.

10 Mar 2015

Bioethics Commission makes recommendations on preparedness for public health emergencies

Today the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (Bioethics Commission) reported that the federal government has both a prudential and a moral responsibility to actively participate in coordinated global responses to public health emergencies wherever they arise.

28 Feb 2015

New article assesses 40 years of intensive effort to improve end-of-life care

After four decades of work - first on patients' rights, then on family and caregiving relationships, and most recently on systemic reform -- we now know that it will take additional efforts in all three areas to improve care at the end of life, concludes an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

11 Feb 2015

New report raises ethical questions surrounding the use of data

Public participation should be at the heart of big data projects in health care and biomedical research, according to the findings of a new report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

9 Feb 2015

Hastings Center Report: Latest issues on health and medicine

For two years, a debate has raged over the study known as the Surfactant, Positive Pressure, and Oxygenation Randomized Trial (SUPPORT), which sought to gauge the risks and benefits of different blood oxygen levels currently targeted in the care of premature infants.

9 Feb 2015

New initiative aims at reducing adverse effects of medications in individuals with mental illnesses

Geneticists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health will provide their scientific expertise to a new initiative aimed at preventing and reducing the adverse effects of medications in people with mental illnesses.

4 Feb 2015

Study shows changes in kidney function among sugarcane workers in northwestern Nicaragua

Sugarcane workers in northwestern Nicaragua experienced a decline in kidney function during the harvest, with field workers at greatest risk, suggesting that heat stress or other occupational factors may be playing a role in the high rates of chronic kidney disease in the region, a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health researchers shows.

3 Feb 2015

Study documents concerns relating to tissue donation

When donating blood, plasma, human tissue or any other bodily sample for medical research, most people might not think about how it's being used. But if you were told, would you care?

2 Feb 2015

ACOs can ethically influence physician referrals, say medical ethicists

It's the health care holy grail: higher quality care at lower cost, and there are a growing number of accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the United States aiming to achieve it, in part by influencing where patients receive care. This carries risk to patient well-being and choice, but medical ethicists at Johns Hopkins and Brigham and Women's say ACOs can ethically influence referrals, under certain conditions.

16 Jan 2015